Method for manufacturing cork gaskets



. H. L. GLOVER METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING doRk GASKETS July 7, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 13, 1951 III/IIIIIIIII 5 INVENTOR y 7, 1953 H L. GLOVER 2,644,197

METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING GORK GASKETS Filed Jan. 13, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v Patented July 7, 1953 MANUFACTURING CORK GASKETS METHOD FOR OFFICE Howard L. Glover, Chicago, Ill. Application January 13, 1951, Serial No. 205,890

This invention relates to cork gaskets and deals particularly with the methods employed in manufacturing such gaskets.

Cork gaskets are very old and have been widely utilized for effecting'a' proper seal between metal surfaces. They have been employed in almost every conceivable type of machinery, but have been particularly widely used in the automobile industry, where they are employed for sealing crank cases, valve covers and many and various other parts. Notwithstanding this, the methods heretofore employed in the manufacture of these gaskets have been extremely wasteful, both as to time required and as to material consumed, with the result that the manufacturing processes employed in making the gaskets have been unnecessarily expensive.

It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide .a new and different method for manufacturing cork gaskets. In proposing such a new method, it is the primary aim of the invention to provide a method for manufacturing gaskets which are of equal or superior quality to those manufactured heretofore, yet to reduce the time required by the manufacturing processes substantially, and to accomplish these objects by the use of only a fraction of the raw material heretofore required.

These objects are accomplished in the present by practice of a new method which has been found by actual test to require only about onehalf of the raw material required by conventional processes, and to nevertheless produce gaskets in approximately half of the time heretofore required, with a corresponding reduction in labor costs. Obviously, this gives rise to important increases in production in a manufacturing plant of any given size, or makes it possible to produce a given daily output of gaskets with far less equipment and manpower than heretofore required.

The teachings of the present invention are applicable to almost all of the larger types of cork gaskets, particularly those intended to seal the marginal edges of a crank case, oil housing, valve rocker arm cover, or other similar housing. The invention is applicable, however, to any of the larger gaskets having an open center portiontherein.

The principles of this invention will be discussed in connection with equipment specifically designed for producing a type of gasket which is a typical example of one of the uses to which cork gaskets are ordinarily put; namely, a gas- 2 Claims. (01. 18-475) 2 ket for a valve rocker arm cover of an automobile engine, Before describing the apparatus and method employed herein in detail, however, it may be advisable to point out that the present invention contemplates manufacture of gaskets formed of ground cork which is first mixed with a binder such as glue or thermosetting plastic, which is compressed and baked until the cork mass has solidified into a fairly rigid yet resilient body, consisting primarily of cork so that ithas the compressibility requisite for use as gasket material, yet having a suificient tensile strength so that it maybe handled and put'in place without undue likelihood of damage. The present applicant has learned that in any operation involving the baking of such a body of compressed cork, the extraordinary-thermal insulating properties of the cork impose a serious limitation on the design of the equipment employed, since while it is essential that the cork body be adequately baked throughout,. it

is nevertheless desirable that its design be such that this baking may be accomplished within a reasonable length of time. Otherwise, to manufacture any appreciable number of gaskets, an unnecessarily large amount of molding equipment is required.

The applicant has learned that in almost all conventional types of gaskets required for modern machines, particularly automobiles, the e e kets themselves are of what may be termed marginal shapes having an open center of an area greatly exceeding the actual surface area of the gasket, and that the actual width required at any portion of the gasket seldom exceeds one inch and is often considerabl less. It is therefore a proposal of the present invention to provide'molding equipment so designed and constructed as to mold a cork body in a form which we may conveniently refer to as a frame, having a number of openings through the body separated by integral cork sections, with the individual sections of considerably greater thickness than their width. By this expedient it is entirely feasible to mold re1atively thick bodies of solid cork material, since the cork may be baked by introducing hot air into ducts passing through the openings therein, as'well as by applying exterior heat. Thus the body of cork is not heated primarily from the top and bottom surfaces thereof, but is baked by heat transmitted laterallyinward from the outside of the mold and at the same time transmitted laterally outwardly from the core through air ducts passing therethrough. This lateral heating of the cork during the baking process is of extreme importance in that it permits the construction of molding'equipment wherein the thickness of the cork body is limited only by the capacity of the presses employed in filling the mold, so that a relatively large number of individual gaskets may be obtained from each block of the molded cork. V

The air ducts passing through the block of cork are also important during the cooling of the product, since here again they provide more efiicient heat transfer than heretofore practicable and permit the cork body tocool with unusual rapidity until it is reduced to a temperature where it has set (that is, individual cork particles have become bonded into an integral self-sustaining mass, free of any tendency to warp, swell or otherwise distort). This also means that the cork hasbecome cool enough for handling and further fprocessing in a much shorter time than required by conventional processes.

Notwithstanding the above, the present teaching provides a method wherein the gaskets may be formed entirely of what may betermed the core portion of the compressed cork body. This is essential since it is well known in the art that the surfaces of a molded cork body, after baking, are unsatisfactory for gasket use in that they are somewhat hard and brittle, and lack flexibility, resiliency and tensile strength requisite for a high quality gasket. This is readily apparent even from the most casual inspection of the gasket material, from which it will be seen that the outer surfaces of a baked cork body are considerably darkened in color and somewhat brittle, often giving the appearance of having been scorched or burned, while the interior or core portion of the cork possesses all of the strength and resiliency of the cork itself and is of proper color and texture.

The present form ofthe' invention 'is illustrated herein with apparatus employed for making automobile valve rocker arm covers, and equipment specifically designed for this purpose is illustrated in the drawings of this specification wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a typical mold employed to practice the present method of manufacture;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional View taken substantially on the plane of the. line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmental cross sectional view of the mold and its coacting parts. as they are assembled in a press prior to compression of a mass of ground cork and binder therein; 7

Figure 4 is a sectional view similar to Figure 3, showing the parts of the mold after the cork body therein has been properly compressed;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a baked cork frame as contemplated by the present invention;

Figure 6 is a fragmental detail cross. sectional view taken substantially on the plane ofthe line 66 of Figure 5; and illustrating the relationship between the relatively brittle crust of the cork and the resilient core thereof;

Figure 7 is a detail perspective View of an individual. sheet of cork sliced from a frame such as illustrated in Figure 5; and I Figure 8 is a plan view of a sheet. such as illustrated in Figure 7 after the gaskets. have bee die cut therefrom. 1

The mold employed herein consists of a main metal frame comprising channel. irons HI. and II 4 at the opposite sides joined by fiat metal plates I2 and I3 at the ends of the mold. The mold is open at the top and bottom (Figure 2), but is provided with a multiplicity of cross bars I4 which, as illustrated, are T shaped in cross section and extend between the side channels I0 and II. The mold is provided with four hollow air ducts I5, each having opposite side walls I6 standing upright onthe cross bars I4 and welded thereto, with the opposite ends of the side walls joined by end plates I7. As illustrated, the air ducts are provided with central partitions I9 which space the walls of each duct apart from each other and provide a reinforce- .ment for these walls when the powdered cork 'rnaterial is compressed within the mold. The

walls I6 and I! of these ducts I 5 are adjacent but spaced from the exterior wall members If]. II, I2 and I3 of the mold and are similarly spaced from each other, so that the mold is divided into a plurality of sections 2I', 22,. 23, 24 and 25, which run the full length of the mold in one direction, and are united at each end by the transversesections 26and 2?. Thus, when the pulverulent cork from which the cork frame. is to be made is inserted in the mold and compressed, the sections 21 to 2'! form into an integral solid frame of cork, while the air ducts I5 form hollow spaces or openings therein.

The manner in which the molds are utilized in compressing the cork-body is best illustrated in connection with Figures 3 and 4, wherein it will be seen that the frame of the'mold that is, the channels I0 and II, end. plates I2 and I3, and the cross bars I l are positioned on the bed 3I of a hydraulic press. The open bottom of the mold is closed by a perforated plate 32, which is of generally rectangular shape, having its outer dimensions fittingloosely between the channels I0 and I I at the sides and between the plates I2 and I3 at the ends. This plate 32 has four aperturesv formed therein to correspond with the size andgshape of the air ducts. Thus, this plate may be inserted in the mold to rest. on the cross bars- It as. illustrated. The open top of themold is preferably provided With an extension to increase the capacity thereof. Conveniently, this extension may be in the form of a rectangular wall 30 which ispreferably of a size corresponding to the length and width of the mold, and of a height suflicient to extend the eifective height of the mold to. about three times the height of the side channels and end plates thereof. Four removable blocks 3.3 are also positioned in the. four air ducts l5, so that the height of the plates I6 and I7 is increased accordingly. Each of the blocks 33 comprises side andv end walls corresponding to the walls I6 and, I1, and has inwardly offset mounting flanges 34 so that they maintain themselves in position when telescoped into the upper ends of the air ducts. The tops of the blocks 33. are closed by fiat plates 35 so that when the top of the mold is open it may be conveniently filled with powdered cork material, which will be prevented from flowing through the air ducts I5 by the blocks, but will be allowed to .accumulate in the sections 2I-2I of the mold and the portions of the mold extension-disposed thereabove. A top plate 36 of size and shape corresponding to the bottom plate 32 is then placed in position on the. mold and the bed 3I of the press is raised until the top plate is engaged by a ram 31. which forces the. top. plate to exert pressure on the cork within the mold. The ram 31 has downwardly extending flanges 38 corresponding to the shape of the top plate 36. These flanges bear directly on reinforcing flanges 39 Welded to the top plate 36, so that as the bed 3| of the press moves upwardly, the body of cork will be compressed-from the position shown in Figure 3 to that of Figure 4. At this point,

manually lifted, and the top plate 36 is locked in position by driving the four locking pins 4| inwardly through the mounting brackets 42, until their inner ends overlie the edges of the. top plate 36. The press may then be opened and the extension blocks 33 removed. The molds, with the cork held in compressed condition therein, will then be in condition for baking.

It is to be noted that when the blocks 33 are removed from the mold air ducts l5 are left en-. tirely open from top to bottom, so that hot air may be introduced into these ducts during the baking process, so the cork frame from the inside thereof as well as from the outside. That is,v each of the individual sections of the mold (represented in Fi ure 4 by the sections 24 and 25) will be heated primarily by heat entering the mold laterally as illustrated by the arrows of thefigure. This brings about quick penetration of the heat into the central portion of the cork even in a relatively thick cork frame, since the depth to which the heat must penetrate. is never greater 1 than half the distance between these vertical surfaces, which may be quite close together irrespective of the height of the mold. Thus, the time required for baking the frames is not dependent on the thickness of the cork frame to produced. It follows that frames of any desired thickness may be employed without unduly increasing the timev required for adequate baking thereof.

When the baking of the cork frame is completed, the molds are placed in a cooling cham: ber and blowers are provided to circulate relatively cool air over the exterior surfaces of the molds and through the air ducts thereof. Here, again, the presence of the air ducts greatly increases the eificiency of heat transfer during the cooling operation in the same manner as heretofore described, and therefore permits the molds to be rapidly cooled to a temperature at which the ground cork and its binder becomes set; that is, when they become a relatively rigid, stable mass which is not thereafter unduly subject to swelling, buckling or other distortion. At this time the mold iscool enough for'handling and the frame may be removed therefrom for further processing.

The frame or body 29 of cork (Figure 5) is taken from the mold by removing the pins M and the top plate 36 and forcing the bottom plate 32 upwardly toforce the frame out of the mold. The completed frame 29 is an integral unitary body of cork as illustrated, having a plurality of relatively large elongated central openings [5a corresponding to the air ducts I5 and consisting of sections 2 la, 22a, 23a, 24a and 25a intethat heat will be applied to gral with and extending between end sectionsifia and 21a., These sections, of course, correspond with the sections 2| to of the mold. 7

It has heretofore been pointed out thatinthe baking process the exterior surfaces of the cork body become somewhat brittle and lack the resiliency required for the production of highest quality gaskets. This condition is'illustrated in Figure 6 wherein it will be seen that thesestion 21a of the frame has an outer. crust comprising upper and lower-layers .45 and 45 with inside and outside layers 41 and 118, all of which surround the inner resilient core portion. 49 which is best suited to the production of high quality gaskets. By practicing the presentinvention, however, it is possible to greatly reduce the amount of raw material required for the manufacture of a given number of gaskets and at thesame time to produce gaskets of. the highest possible quality employing only the choice portionsof the cork having the desired degree of strength, flexibility and rigiditypThis is ace complished by first trimming one flat surfaceof each of the frames (for example, removingthe top crust layer 45). and then slicing the remainder of the frame into relatively thin, flat slices 40 as illustrated in, :Figure '7, which slices are thereafter die cut into individual ,gasketsyas, illustrated in Figure 8. 1

It is to be noted that when the uppenlayer of crust 45,, for example, has been trimmed off, repeated slices taken from they flatsurface of the frame shown in Figure .5: will appear as thin resilient sheets having sectional strips lib to 251) extending between and integral with sectional strips 26b and 21b at the ends. These strips will have, however, at their inner and outer edges, narrow portions of crustAlb and 481) which have less resiliency than required for the besttype of cork gasket. It is therefore the practice of the present invention to die cuti-the individual gaskets 50 from the-central or core portionof each of the sectional strips as, illustrated in Figure 8. Thus, each endless gasket is die cut from around one of theapertures l5b of the sheet 40, but the parts of the frame and gasket are so proportioned that, thegasket ineach case is somewhat larger than the .apere, ture and is spaced from the innerhandouter edges of the sectional strips at all points, Thus, the gaskets 50 utilize only the core portion of the frame which has the greatest strength, .resiliency and compressibility, and is the, most suitable for its required purpose. .At the same time, it is to be noted that the present teachings requireonly about half of the raw material that would be required by a solid cork body of the same exterior dimensions, since withthe dimensions shown, the cubic capacity of the openings through the. frames is approximately one-half of the total volume of the mold.

From the above it should be apparent that by practice of the teachings of this invention several important advances in the gasket mak-: ing art are accomplished. In the first place, it will be readily apparent that bythe use of the equipment and processes here disclosed given number of gaskets may be produced with much less raw material than heretofore required, in fact, with a requirement of only about one-half of the material necessary for production of the same gaskets by utilization of a solid block of cork. Moreover, it will be seen that the provision of the relatively large air ducts through the mold provides means for increasing the heat transfer efficiency in the baking operation so greatly that the stock for a given number of gaskets may be processed in somewhat less than half of the time required by the most eflicient processes heretofore known to the applicant. Moreover, the practice of the present invention provides in addition to the above the means whereby the gaskets may be so manufactured as to utilize only the core portion of the cork which has the .highest tensile strength, resiliency and compressibility, and is consequently'the most satisfactory for production of a gasket of high quality. In addition to the above, it is to be noted that the present invention provides a certain amount of dimensional leeway in the production of gaskets of the same general type, since with a frame of the dimensions shown for example, a manufacturer may produce quantities of the precise form of gasket illustrated, but may convert to another similar gasket having substantially the same dimensions but different detailed configuration merely by the provision of another set of cutting dies without the need of changes or of modifications of the molding equipment. This is of considei'able advantage in production of gaskets for automotive manufacturers, for example, wherein changes from one yearly model to the next ordinarily involve only very small detailed changes in shape or only very small changes in dimensions, and wherein the changes in overall dimensions from year to year are seldom enough to exceed the limits provided in a mold producing frames of substantially the proportions shown herein.

The present invention has been disclosed herein in connection with one preferred embodiment in which it finds a high degree of utility and has shown itself to be of considerable commercial advantage. It is to be understood, however, that the precise forms of apparatus shown herein are illustrated by way of example rather than in limitation of the disclosure hereof, and that the invention is of suificiently broad scope to include within its purview any variations or modifications of the method coming within the terms of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is;

1. The method of manufacturing cork gaskets comprising the steps of molding a relatively thick flat ground cork body having a plurality of sections integral with each other and of thickness greater than their Width, said sections surrounding at least one relatively large opening through said body; introducing hot air into the openings of said body and heating the exterior surfaces thereof to bake said body into a relatively rigid self-supporting frame; introducing cool air into said openings of said body and cooling the exterior surfaces thereof to rapidly reduce the temperature of said frame; trimming one of the flat surfaces. of said frame and slicing a. multiplicity of thin sheets from the side thereof whereby each sheet is a marginal shape hav-e ing integral endless sectional strips correspond,- ing in size and shape to each of said sections and an internal aperture corresponding in size tures and spaced from the inner and outer edges of said sectional strips at all points.

2. The method of manufacturing cork gaskets comprising the steps of molding a relatively thick fiat ground cork body having a plurality of section integral with each other and of thickness greater than their width, said sections surrounding at least one relatively large opening through said body; introducing hot air into the opening of said body and heating the exterior surfaces thereof to bake said body into a relatively rigid self-supporting frame; trimming one of the flat surfaces of said frame and slicing a multiplicity of thin sheetsfrom the side thereofwhereby each sheet is a marginal shape having integral endless sectional strips corresponding in sizeand shape to each of said sections and an internal aperture corresponding in size and shape to each opening of said frame, and die cutting, from around each aperture of each of said sheets, a gasket of endless strip form and of shape generally corresponding to the shape of said apertures but larger than said apertures and spaced from the inner and outer edges of said sectional strips at all points.

3. The method of manufacturing cork gaskets comprising the steps of molding a relatively thick fiat ground cork body having a plurality of sections integral with each other and surrounding at least one relatively large opening through said body; introducing hot air into the openings of said body and heating the exterior surfaces thereof to bake said body into a relatively rigid self-supporting frame; trimming one of the flat surfaces of said frame and slicing a multiplicity of thin sheets from the side thereof whereby each sheet is a marginal shape having integral endless sectional strips corresponding in size and shape to each of said sections and an internal aperture corresponding in size and shape to each opening of said frame, and die cutting, of said sheets, a gasket of endless strip form and of shape generally corresponding to the shape of said apertures but larger than said apertures and spaced. from the inner and outer edges of said sectional strips at all points.

HOWARD L. GLOVER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 997,056 Grunzweig July 4, 1911 1,361,081 MacKinnon Dec. 7, 1920 1,650,687 Bond Nov. 29, 1927 1,839,209 Elder Jan. 5, 1932 1,888,410 Schacht Nov. 22, 1932 2,126,435 Weisenburg Aug. 9, 1938 from around each aperture of each 

